


Clones and their Cats

by Mando-Chicken (Sincognito)



Series: A Vet Among The Stars [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Animals, Baby Animals, Crack, F/M, Fleshing out an OC, Fluff, Ignoring Regulations, Just Add Kittens, Pets, ongoing, tookas
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:08:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23633611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sincognito/pseuds/Mando-Chicken
Summary: A collection of stories involving various Clones and their pet Tookas (and occasionally other animals). It's not easy keeping pets when there are regulations that specifically state that clones are not allowed to own animals, but with a little help they're more than eager to try anyway. There will be a main focus generally on the Coruscant Guard, but other clones will also be largely included.There will be an OC included and possibly some potential shipping content later on, but most shipping will largely be background, this fic is supposed to be about the Clones after all. The chapters will generally include notes about their content before each new chapter.
Relationships: cc-1010 | Fox/Dalthic, cc-1010 | Fox/OC, shipping if you squint - Relationship
Series: A Vet Among The Stars [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1701355
Comments: 8
Kudos: 50





	1. The Catsitter

It started as any other day for Doctor  Dalthic Zikaria , meeting up in the early hours of the morning with a small group of GAR officers to discuss the relief effort that would be going ahead in just under a week. The deployment had been pushed back a whole week thanks to heavy fighting in the area making it far too dangerous for  civilian medics and officers to be sent planet-side. It was all simple information – a rundown on the planet, its people, and what assistance they required – and fortunately for the sleep-deprived doctor, it hadn’t been anything too detailed. She knew that closer to the date of their deployment she would receive more tailored information on the types of fauna she would be helping during the mission, but for the time being, decided it would be best to inspect which provisions the GAR would be supplying them with. 

She only felt a little out of place, wandering the corridors in her typical civilian clothes, surrounded by the countless military officers and the many ranks of clone troopers. She’d made sure to display her identification on the outside of her jacket, clearly indicating her position as veterinarian and zoology consultant, and so none of the men and women hurrying through the base bothered to stop her as she tried to track down the correct wing from memory alone. Previously she’d been shown the route by one of the officers, so it wasn’t too difficult for her to recall the general layout of the storage rooms. 

It took only a few short minutes to trek across the base and finally reach the warehouses where several clones were already busy filling up crates with medical supplies, rations and practically anything else they thought would be useful. Just before she could enter, however, someone shouted her name. She quickly turned, scanning the area for the person responsible, her gaze landing on a trooper clad in armour adorned with blue markings. After spending some time around the base she’d come to recognise several of the different companies and was quick to assess that the man was a member of the 501 st . What was different about him, however, was the small, furry creature firmly clasped in his arms. 

“Doc!” he called out again, almost tripping over his own feet in his haste, before thrusting the animal into her arms. “ Cap’n is checking the barracks, can’t keep ‘ er in there, need someone to watch her for a bit,” the trooper managed to finally wheeze out, panting from his evident sprint across base. Before  Dalthic could even consider a  response, the poor man had already spun on his heel and was racing back whence he’d come with a brief “thanks!” thrown over his shoulder as he went. 

The vet glanced down at the animal happily curled against her chest, finally able to take in what exactly the clone had dumped on her. Looking up at her with bright blue eyes was a small black  Tooka . She had a distinctive white pattern across her face, and it only took  Dalthic a moment to recognise one of the strays she’d taken into the veterinary clinic where she worked a few weeks ago. The  Tooka – a very social kitten by the name of Torrent – had been adopted by one of the clones recently. 

A veterinary clinic wasn’t the sort of place clones would typically frequent. It all began when a member of the Guard happened upon a wounded  Tooka – apparently, the animal had been following him during his patrol, calling after him and trying to draw his attention – as soon as he was due to end his shift he’d scooped up the feline, taking it to the closest vet he could find, which just so happened to be the one  Dalthic was working at. They’d spent a short time talking and eventually, she had shown him all of the stray animals in need of adoption, assuring him that the  Tooka he’s brought in would hopefully find herself a loving home. After that first encounter clones began bringing in wounded strays from all over, even volunteering to spend some of the time between their patrols playing with the cats (and the occasional dogs they got in). 

Having so many people regularly interacting with the animals ensured that they were all well socialised, and it provided the troopers with somewhere they could relax when they were on shore leave or after a stressful day for the Guard. The clone who had brought in the first  Tooka – a friendly commander by the name of Thorn – often dragged his men and sometimes even his fellow commanders into the clinic, dumping them in the  Tooka room with strict orders to play with the kittens for a while. It wasn’t uncommon to find one of the commanders or captains stretched out on the floor, tapping away at a  datapad with a handful of cats flopped all over their legs and chest. It wasn’t the best place to actually get work done, especially when one of the  Tookas decided that the perfect napping place was directly on top of the  datapad they were trying to use, but it was far less stressful than being cooped up in a tiny office or surrounded by other people rushing about in all directions. 

Inevitably, men started to get attached. 

Legally speaking, the clones weren’t allowed to adopt pets, and it was against regulations for them to own any possessions. But when  Dalthic had seen several of the big, tough, members of the Coruscant Guard absolutely fawning over a handful of kittens they’d found like excited children, she’d decided to assist them by helping them to adopt pets under the table. The information had spread like wildfire through the clones and within days there were men coming in and out of the adoptions area by the dozen. 

It was most common for a whole squad to come in together and spend what felt like hours arguing over which one they wanted, but every now and then a lone trooper would come in and make the decision alone. It surprised no one when a month later, Thorn ended up adopting Spot, the ginger stray he’d brought into the clinic. Now, she resides within the Guard barracks, often sneaking into Thorn’s office when he’s in there working on paperwork. 

By no means is it easy to keep superiors from finding the many pets scattered throughout the GAR, especially when there were regular checks of the barracks. This, however, was the first time a clone had come to her to actively help hide one of their pets. “I guess you’re with me then, kitty.” The  Tooka began to purr happily, entirely oblivious to what was happening. Fortunately, she was able to continue checking through the supplies despite holding the squirming  Tooka in her arms. Some of the men glanced at the animal in confusion, but none of them decided to mention it, far too busy loading up supplies for the numerous campaigns underway to be concerned by a random  Tooka hanging around their warehouse. 

It was almost an hour later when several members of the 501 st end up walking into the warehouse. It took them a while to spot her, buried in medical supplies on the floor, holding Torrent in one arm while counting out  bacta patches with her free hand. She recognised one of the clones who approached, a trooper by the name of  Denal , who was quick to crouch down and begin cooing at the Tooka. 

Torrent quickly wiggled her way out of her captor’s arms and bounded towards her owner, immediately beginning to rub her face against the clone’s arm, mewing pleasantly when she was gently picked up off the floor and into  Denal’s arms. “Did you miss me, Torrent?” he asked, grinning when the cat meowed back at him, somehow managing to purr louder as she gazed up at the clone with her round, sapphire eyes. 

“You were only gone an hour-” came the rather blunt response from one of the other blue armoured men who promptly began to shake his head in disbelief when  Denal simply held the  Tooka closer. The man had a rather intricate haircut, short with what appeared to be small lightning bolts etched through it, and wore armour adorned with the medical symbol stamped to one of his shoulder guards. 

The other clone who had accompanied  Denal and the medic stepped forward with a rather loud laugh, slapping the medic’s back in what was clearly intended to be a friendly gesture, but was done with enough force to almost send to poor man toppling over. She recognised him as the same person who shoved the  Tooka into her arms an hour earlier before ruching off. “At least the Captain didn’t find her, then we’d all be in for it.” Despite his words, the trooper didn’t seem to be phased in the slightest by the fact they were clearly breaking GAR regulations by helping their squadmate smuggle a live animal in and out of their barracks. He certainly had a unique look, with crisp blue lines streaked down the left side of his head where they came to rest just below his eye, ending with a single blue dot. His chin was marked with similar hard lines and dots and the tattoos seemed to be mimicked on his armour that the same linear design. 

Denal seemed to snap out of his trance when he heard the other clone’s voice, glancing over to  Dalthic with a rather sheepish grin, “Sorry for sending Hardcase and Torrent over earlier, ma’am, our Captain was doing a check of our barracks and we needed someone to make sure she didn’t get into any trouble.” That explained why the trooper, Hardcase as he was apparently known, had been in quite a rush to dump the kitten into her arms before sprinting away again. 

“No harm done,” she hummed, offering him a soft smile, watching as the kitten reached out to  Denal with one of her paws, trying to regain his attention. It hadn’t exactly been convenient having to watch a small kitten while doing some work, but it would certainly be worth it if it meant Torrent got the stay with the person who very clearly cared for her. “I’d be happy to look after her anytime you guys need,” she added, placing away the last few supplies. 

Denal nodded, seeming to relax some at her words, “Thank you, ma’am, we appreciate it greatly.” He offered her a more confident grin before turning away and picking up the helmet he’d previously placed on the floor. Despite the small mew of protest, he placed Torrent within the helmet, trying his best to make sure she was slightly less obvious, before quickly heading back towards the barracks with Hardcase and their medic squadmate in tow. “See  ya , Doc!” Hardcase shouted back, just before they rounded the corner that led to the exit, earning a  swat on the arm from the medic beside him. 

It wasn’t until several days later that  Dalthic realised she had made a mistake. It seemed that when she’d told the three clones she’d help look after their  Tooka if they needed it, that information had spread to the other clones rather quickly – apparently, one of them wasn’t good at keeping quiet – as it was only two days later when a man from a different legion turned up at her work with their own  Tooka , asking her to watch it while they went on deployment. One  Tooka eventually turned into two, and two into three, and by the end of the day she was pretty sure she had possession of all cats in the 104 th and 212th legions. 

Three  Tookas was manageable. They would be perfectly safe sleeping away the day in her apartment and she’d be home in time to feed them breakfast and dinner at their usual early hours thanks to her shifts at the clinic. However, it was when members of the Guard started showing up at her actual apartment with their pets, most of them  Thire’s men who were being sent off Coruscant for a little while, that things began to get hectic. 

Fortunately, the following day she wasn’t working, so the vet was able to curl up and go over the information she had finally been sent by the GAR regarding their next off-world mission. It wasn’t until early that evening that she received a knock on the door to her apartment, unable to stop herself from huffing slightly at the thought of yet another  Tooka or Loth Cat being placed in her care. The house was already overrun with six cats, any more and she’d likely have to buy a larger home to accommodate them all. Luckily, all the cats had managed to settle themselves in various hiding places throughout the living room, so  Dalthic was able to reach the front door without having to wade through a tide of curious kitties. 

To her surprise, and immense relief, it wasn’t another trooper come to add another cat to her ever-increasing pride, rather it was one of the Coruscant Guard Commanders, Fox. It wasn’t uncommon for the commanders to drop by for a visit – she had become rather good friends with them over the few months of knowing them – but usually, they would at least give her some warning, be it a message on her  datapad or a brief call. “Evening Doctor,” he greeted, managing to wrestle his helmet off one-handed while his other hand kept hold of some  datapads , “may I come in?”

Dalthic quickly moved aside, gesturing for him to enter, “Of course, it’s good to see you, Commander. Been busy I take it?” She received a brief hum of an affirmative as the clone walked through the doorway, only to pause halfway into the apartment. 

“What’s with all the cats, Doc?” he suddenly asked, squinting at the large gathering of  Tookas who had crawled out from their napping places, likely drawn by the familiar sound of a clone’s voice. “I thought you disapproved of taking work home,” he added, evidently getting over his brief surprise as he walked a little further into the apartment, “At least that’s what you’re always  tellin ’ the boys and I.” He placed his helmet down beside the couch and stacked his pile of  datapads neatly on top of the side table. 

She couldn’t help huffing, rolling her eyes at his clear amusement, “it would seem that I’ve become the designated cat-sitter for half the GAR. I agreed to help one of the five-oh-first boys with looking after their  Tooka and suddenly I now have a million of them.” Already there were cats trotting over to Fox to greet him with a friendly face rub against the side of his leg. Half of the  Tookas usually resided in the Guard barracks, so seeing a familiar person in crimson striped armour wandering around was enough to have them happily purring and bounding after the man as he made his way towards the small kitchen. 

“But I thought you said you were being sent off-world at the end of the week?” Fox only spared her a quick glance in question while he began digging through one of the cabinets for a mug and the jar of caff while the water in the kettle began to boil away. 

“I am, but  Thire’s men will be back tomorrow to pick up their cats and the hundred-and-fourth should be back the day after. They’ve agreed to take care of all the  Tookas while they’re on leave between deployments.” She explained, watching as one of the  Tookas , one belonging to the 104 th by the name of Fluffy, knocked over the commander’s abandoned helmet, shoving his head inside the empty bucket. The cat lifted his head and the helmet slid into place on top of his head, but he seemed rather unconcerned by the fact he was now trapped beneath it, instead curling up on the carpet, evidently enjoying the safety it provided. 

Finally, Fox was able to drag the jar of caff out from where it was buried at the back of the cabinet, making a soft sound of approval when he saw it, “splashing out on the fancy stuff are we?” he asked, shaking the jar briefly to loosen the mixture. 

“You  boys’d better be grateful, you’re lucky I buy any of it at all considering I don’t drink that horrible stuff.” 

The Commander made a scandalised gasp, cradling the jar of caff closer to his person, “how dare you, ma’am! I won’t stand for you insulting the love of my life like this.” It was well known that the GAR’s commanders survived on large quantities of caff and could become more than a little agitated if their supply was disturbed. Unfortunately, the GAR didn’t exactly supply quality caff, and so whenever they could get their hands on some better  stuff they’d practically scull the lot of it. 

When  Thire and Thorn had dragged their fellow commander Ponds along with them to meet their vet friend the man had practically wept when she’d brought him a scalding hot cup of the more expensive caff, praising her name like some divine entity. Now  Dalthic almost always ensured to spend a little extra on good caff so that the boys could at least enjoy something nice to drink when they decided to visit. She was also pretty certain that none of the clones had ever heard of sleep and needed the caffeine to keep the entire Coruscant Guard in working order. 

While Fox finished off making his drink  Dalthic began to weave her way back to the living room, awkwardly stepping over the occasional  Tooka led in her path. She was pretty sure there were only six of them, so how they managed to be in the way whenever she wanted to go anywhere in the house was quite an impressive feat. She did, however, manage to make it back to the armchair she had claimed earlier without stepping on anyone. 

“So, what brings you to my humble abode, Commander?”  Dalthic asked when Fox finally managed to make his way back to the couch where he’d left his  datapads . He placed his caff down and replaced it for one of the pads, before plopping down onto the sofa and practically sinking into the soft cushions. 

He took a moment to get comfortable – his armour didn’t exactly seem like the best thing to be wearing when trying to get comfy, but he couldn’t afford to shed it when he was still on call – before finally answering her question. “Thorn’s been bothering me all day,” he grumbled, already starting to tap at the screen of his  datapad tiredly, “and his damn cat too.” 

Dalthic couldn’t help snickering slightly at his displeasure, unable to hide her amusement when the Commander shot her a less than pleased glare. She knew that Fox had been rather vocal about his disapproval when Thorn had brought Spot back to their barracks, making sure that everyone knew that the moment the  Tooka stepped a paw out of line he’d take her back to the vet clinic himself. Yet  there Fox sat, resigned to grumbling about the animal rather than actually following through on his threat. Not that Thorn had ever been worried that he would, he wasn’t blind, he'd seen the way Fox would stroke the  Tooka’s fur when he thought no one was looking. 

“I haven’t been able to get any of these documents approved because he pops into my office every few minutes to talk, it’s honestly like he doesn’t have anything better to do. And somehow, he keeps  _ forgetting _ to close the door to his office so I end up with a  Tooka trying to sleep on my  datapads and knocking the  flimsi off my desk.” By the time he’d finished his short rant one of the resident Loth Cats had hopped up onto the coach, shoving her way onto Fox’s lap where she proceeded to curl up. The clone simply sighed in defeat, “I thought that I could escape them both and get some work done here, but it seems not.” 

She could only offer a sympathetic smile, shaking her head in disbelief, “well, what was Thorn trying to talk to you about, it must’ve been important if he kept bothering you about it.” She watched as the Commander seemed to tense slightly at the question, seemingly surprised by it – slightly out of character for someone who usually presented such a collected front – but she decided not to comment on it. 

“No, it was the exact opposite, which is why it was so annoying.” Somehow, another  Tooka had managed to scale the couch, nudging at the clone’s closest arm and chirping to try and gain his attention. Absentmindedly Fox began to stroke the cat, smoothing his fingers between its ears as it began purring, pressed up against his side. Before he could continue, however, the communicator on his wrist began blinking angrily at him, signalling an incoming call. 

“Fox? Where are you? The Chancellor is requesting one of us for an escort-” came the voice through the comm.  Dalthic was pretty sure it was Thorn, but couldn’t be certain without seeing the caller in person. 

It was then that Fox grinned, the sort of mischievous grin that could only be mustered by someone about to ruin their sibling’s day in the pettiest way imaginable. “Sorry  vod , can’t help, the cat’s chosen me,” his answer was met with a confused spluttering on the other end, “you said it yourself Thorn, can’t just move a poor little  Tooka once it’s decided to sleep on you.” There was the distinct sound of disbelieving muttering as Fox quickly added, “Besides, I’m certain that the Doc wouldn’t appreciate me upsetting these poor  Tookas .” 

“Seriously?!”  Dalthic could practically feel Thorn seething through the comm, but Fox merely looked all the smugger at his brother’s upset tone, “you’re dumping me with escort duty while you hang out with your  girlfr -” 

It was impressive really, how fast Fox’s hand slammed down on the communicator to cut off the call in that moment. The sudden action had caused the  Tookas who had been peacefully dozing to shoot off in all directions in panic, causing the small room to devolve into a chaotic flurry of cats. The Commander practically leapt to his feet, “I need some more caff,” he near enough shrieked out, darting towards the kitchen. 

Dalthic could only blink in confusion and mild worry, he hadn’t even touched the caff he’d made a few minutes ago. Perhaps the Commander was a little more sleep-deprived than she’d originally thought. 


	2. Tiny Spots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Commander Thorn’s Tooka, Spot, goes missing, he enlists the help of his brother, Commander Fox, to try and find his beloved pet. When they find her, however, they’re both in for quite the surprise. This chapter is set a few months before the previous one.

A knock at Fox’s door caused him to groan loudly, scrubbing at his face with a hand, before glancing at the chrono that sat on his desk, noting that he had been working at the massive piles of flimsi before him for almost two hours. His frown deepened when he also noticed that he had only managed to get part way through the first pile. “Come in,” he huffed, snatching the next document from the pile and scanning the mess of words that seemed to go on forever without actually saying anything of any real importance.

Fox immediately narrowed his eyes when Thorn’s familiar head popped through Fox’s doorway, offering him a sheepish grin. “Uh, hey Fox, is Spot in here?” the younger clone asked, glancing around Fox’s office and at all of the usual hiding places of the Tooka in question.

“Haven’t seen her all day,” he shook his head, returning to reading the flimsi before him, “did you try checking the storage rooms?” The sound of an affirmative, “the street out back?” Another affirmative, “and what about the Doctor? You know Spot likes to hang around at the vet clinic or at her apartment when you’re out on patrol.”

“Dalthic says she hasn’t seen her either.” Thorn’s voice is unusually subdued, and when Fox looks up he can clearly see the way his eyebrows wrinkled. He still seemed to be glancing around the room, as if expecting the cat to suddenly poke its head out of one of the flimsi filled crates – something the animal was indeed prone to doing – because the boxes in Fox’s office were clearly superior for a Tooka to sit in compared to any other.

Fox made a respectable effort at holding back an exhausted sigh, only allowing a brief puff of air from his nose to signal any sort of displeasure. Sure, technically it was none of his concern what happened to the cat, but Thorn absolutely adored the little creature and it was rather sweet the way he lit up the moment he spotted the ginger furball. Admittedly, Fox himself had grown somewhat fond of the Tooka, enjoying her quiet company when he was stuck in the office, even if he _could_ live happily without the unseemly number of cat hairs that coated his blacks and found their way into his cups of caff. Not that he would ever admit such a thing aloud, that would only encourage more brothers to try and get their own hands on a pet.

“She’ll be fine, Thorn, she knows the streets as well as any Guard,” he breathed, “I’m sure she’ll be back here in time to wake you up for feeding tomorrow morning.” Thorn had learnt very quickly that cats did not tolerate late feeding. Whenever he was out, Spot had evidently decided Fox was the lucky person who would get woken up by her ungodly screeching for food, forcing him to feed the animal, lest he have to spend the next few hours trying to sleep through the sound. So much for her being Thorn’s sole responsibility.

Thorn only frowned at his words, shaking his head slightly, “that’s the thing, she hasn’t been to my quarters this evening, and it’s hours past feeding time. You know she’d never miss out on free food and especially not a main meal.” The trooper was shifting slightly, his fingers drumming along the side of his helmet as he clutched it in one of his hands.

It was enough for Fox to take pause in consideration, the flimsi in his hand drooping slightly as he began to think to himself. No matter what, Spot was always present at mealtimes, often arriving a little while early to ensure no one forgot her feed.

“And it isn’t just that either, she’s been throwing up recently, and keeps trying to hide from everyone. I thought she just wasn’t feeling well and it’d pass on its own in a few days, but now…” he trailed off with a sigh, looking down at the floor. It was typical of Thorn to think he had somehow failed his pet before they even knew if anything was actually wrong with her – a habit it seemed he had picked up from Fox himself – and he decided to quickly put an end to the line of thought.

“Look, _vod_ , I’m sure she’s fine. Have a little faith in her.” Fox placed down the document he had been working on, “go on and do your patrol, the boys will be waiting for you. I’ll just finish up these priority documents and then I’ll go and look around the barracks.” He was fortunate to have finished most of the priority work beforehand, only a few documents required for important meetings within the senate the following morning, and the rest could wait a while longer. It wasn’t as though Fox expected to get much further through the nasty piles of flimsiwork anyway.

Seemingly, his reassurances were enough to take off some of the edge off Thorn’s worries, and the other commander was quick to give Fox a nod, straightening up and sliding his helmet smoothly into place. “Thanks, _vod_.” Thorn’s shoulders lowered slightly, as if his tension was slowly being drained away.

Fox nodded back, beginning to shoo his fellow commander from the room with a few waves of his hand, “don’t worry about it, just make sure to keep the little beast in your quarters where you can keep an eye on her once I find her.” From the way Thorn snickered slightly and muttered a quiet ‘sure’ as he left, Fox’s gruff, annoyed tone hadn’t exactly come out as such.

Within half an hour Fox had managed to scribble the final approval signature into place on the documents he was working through. He placed it on the pile of completed work with a relieved sigh, taking a moment to roll his wrist, frowning slightly at the way it ached with the movement. Although it wasn’t quite late, Fox knew he would have to be awake before dawn to begin some preparations for a guard detail later the following day, so he was determined to get a reasonable amount of rest beforehand.

After taking a few moments to ensure everything was left in order, Fox exited his office and began the short journey to the main barracks attached to the lower story of the Guard building. If the Tooka wasn’t in Thorn’s quarters or office, the local alleyways or harassing the local vet for affection, then there was a solid chance she would be hiding out in the barracks.

Luckily for Fox, the men were good at keeping their sleeping areas practically spotless – as per the regulations – so there were only so many places Spot could try to hide. But it seemed that no matter how many rooms he checked, nor how many brothers he spoke to, there were no signs he could find that would lead him to the cat’s current whereabouts. No one had seen her, not since the previous evening at the latest.

Fox had been searching for well over an hour before Thorn eventually returned from his short patrol of the nearby area, only just taking the time to switch out with the next trooper assigned the route, before he was back to Fox’s side, questioning him on his progress. They both agreed to spend only another hour searching for Spot at the most, knowing they were both needed the following morning. Despite their efforts, however, neither of them could find the elusive feline, and Thorn was eventually the one to call the search off, albeit reluctantly.

Defeated, but agreeing to spend some time in the morning continuing their search, Fox returned to his quarters for the night. It took him only a few minutes to mindlessly work his way out of his armour, setting it all aside in a neat pile, before he fell back onto his bed. The thin mattress did little to cushion his small drop, but he hardly cared, moving into a slightly more comfortable position on his back before grabbing his datapad from the side table.

He silently skimmed through the ever-growing list of updates, ensuring there was nothing that urgently needed his attention. The screen of the datapd was the only feature illuminating the room, and Fox was silently musing to himself about how the Guard medics Fibula and Tibia would probably be berating him for causing potential eye strain, when he picked up the distinct sound of a Tooka’s meow.

Practically rolling off the edge of the bed, Fox quickly dropped down to the floor, using the brightness of his pad to light up the small space beneath his bunk. It took him all of about four seconds – enough time to curse Thorn and the tube he was birthed from – before he reached out and snatched up his comm unit, calmly summoning the other commander to his quarters.

By the time Thorn managed to reach him, Fox had switched on the lights and had settled himself on the floor. “When you adopted Spot, what exactly did the vet tell you to do?” Fox asked, glancing up at Thorn. His voice was soft and almost conversational, but his eyes glinted dangerously in a way that had the other commander shrinking slightly under the older clone’s gaze.

“The Doc’ told me plenty of things I’d need to do…” he slowly answered, curling in on himself further when Fox made a show of taking in a deep breath, holding it for a moment, and then releasing it. He was mad. “Why do you ask, _ori’vod_?” Thorn was scared to ask but prayed to whatever deity was out there that he could perhaps try and suck up to the other commander and somewhat lessen his wrath, or at least what amount of it got directed towards him.

Fox, however, saw through his futile attempt, eyes narrowing on his dangerously, “Don’t you ‘ _ori’vod_ ’ me, Thorn,” he growled, “come and look what your cat’s done.”

There was little room for argument with Fox’s tone, and cautiously, as if approaching a fierce predator, Thorn slunk his way closer, sliding down to kneel on the floor beside Fox’s bed. He glanced under it, only to gasp in both surprise and slight delight at what he saw. “Spot’s had kittens?!” he whisper-shouted, trying to be considerate of the five, tiny bundles of fur currently snuggled up close to Spot’s side. Thorn had the sense to at least attempt to look sheepish, but it was hard to maintain it with the way he kept having to fight down the urge to grin at the adorable kittens.

“I thought you said you’d gotten her splayed months ago!” Fox couldn’t help snapping, “what the _kriff_ are we supposed to do with kittens, _di’kut_?”

Thorn gave a nervous chuckle, scratching at the back of his neck, “Uh, yeah, about that…” he merely offered an apologetic smile, though it began to look more and more like a grimace the longer Fox scowled at him. “Look, I’m sorry, but I got caught up with all the chaos we were having recently, and it just slipped my mind.”

Fox had practically buried his face into his hand by that point. “That still doesn’t answer my question. We don’t exactly know how to deal with newborn kittens, nor what we should do with them.”

“We can just ask Dalthic, she’s a vet, she’ll know how to look after kittens,” Thorn replied, reaching out to gently nudge one of the restless baby Tookas with one of his fingers. The fearsome clone commander looked as though he was going to burst into tears and desperately clutched his chest with a hand when the kitten made a tiny ‘mew’ sound in response.

Fox already had his datapad out, shooting a brief message to the vet who had been kind enough to help Thorn adopt Spot in the first place. “You’re going to have to apologise to the poor woman, I’m sure she doesn’t appreciate being woken up at this hour,” he grumbled, sparing a glance at Spot and noting tiredly that it was indeed his blanket that the cat had stolen to give birth on.

Thorn nodded, but didn’t seem to be paying much attention, too absorbed with stroking Spot’s head, informing her of just how adorable her kittens were. Spot was vibrating with happiness, purring so loudly that Fox was slightly worried the walls would start shaking if she purred any louder. “Some of the other brothers have mentioned wanting pets, maybe we could keep the—”

“Absolutely not.” There was no way they would be keeping the kittens, much less giving them to other brothers in the Guard to keep as pets. As far as Fox was concerned, they had already broken enough regulations by deciding to keep one Tooka in the barracks, six would just be asking for trouble. “We’re not going to be keeping any of them, as soon as they’re old enough we’ll give them to the Doc’ and she can find them homes.” He absolutely meant it, no matter how put-out Thorn looked at being so quickly shot down.

It was six weeks later, when Spot was happily sitting in one of the crates in Fox’s office, with four kittens spread out across his desk’s surface and one kitten attempting to lay on top of his datapad while he was using it, purring away happy and content, that Fox realised yes, they would indeed be keeping the kittens.


	3. War Dogs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hardcase has come up with a flawless plan to get their brother a gift. Kix isn’t so certain that it’ll be a good idea. Jesse just want to see what sort of chaos he can encourage Hardcase to create.”
> 
> A fic focusing on our boys in the 501st! This one is set just after the Citadel.

“I still think this is a terrible idea.”  Kix was doing his best to soothe the headache that was already threatening to rear its ugly head by massaging his temples, but the very thought of what  Hardcase was suggesting was utter madness and would undoubtedly end in nothing but more stress for the already overtired medic. The fact that Jesse was actually agreeing with  Hardcase’s mad scheme certainly wasn’t helping either. 

Hardcase simply chuckled at his brother’s plight, grinning from ear to ear like his plan couldn’t possibly backfire and get all three of them into some serious trouble. “Ah c’mon  Kix , you said it yourself, the poor guy is barely eating, won’t speak to anyone, and only sleeps when he drops from exhaustion,” the heavy gunner reminded him, his smile faltering slightly for the briefest of moments, “if he won’t let any of us in to help then maybe this little fella can help where we can’t.” 

“ Y’know , ‘Case does have a point. It’d take his mind off what happened for a little while at the very least, and you  _ were _ the one to bring up the topic.” Jesse simply placed a hand on  Kix’s shoulder, offering what he hoped was a reassuring smile, before leaning back into the waiting room chair. 

Kix merely subjected his brother to a harsh stare, crossing his arms with a huff, “all I said was that animals were good for lowering stress, I never said that we should up and get one on a whim.” He was glad that the vet clinic was otherwise unoccupied – they'd thankfully chosen a quiet day when there were neither clients nor  vode coming and going – he only pitied the receptionist who had been subjected to almost an hour of their back and forth arguments. Before he could continue to counter his brothers’ madness, the door to the adoption section of the clinic slid open, one of the resident veterinarians stepping through accompanied by a medium sized crate. 

Hardcase leapt to his feet, energy radiating off him as he beamed up at the vet, “Is it all done? Is he ours?”

Dalthic simply laughed good-naturedly at his enthusiasm, holding out the crate for him, “He’s officially been registered to you,” she confirmed as the clone gingerly took the crate from her arms, “I know you said he was a gift for one of your brothers, and he doesn’t have a name yet, so feel free to drop in again soon and I’ll update his details for you.”

Hardcase seemed just about ready to run for the door and sprint back to the barracks, but  Kix managed to keep a hold of him long enough for Jesse to confirm a few last questions. “You did it discreetly, yeah?” he asked, unable to stop his brow from crinkling slightly. 

The doctor nodded, her expression becoming serious, “Of course, I’m well aware of the potential risks you’ll face if the GAR find out that he belongs to you, I’ve taken care of the details so that nothing can reveal that he is registered to  clones, it just shows up like any other patient file .” She waited until they all breathed a collective sigh of relief before continuing, “however, we’ve only been able to adopt out  Tookas to you boys since they can easily be hidden; this guy will not be  quite so  easy to hide, so if you do have any dramas feel free to bring him back and I’ll see if we can arrange something else.”

Kix knew that  Dalthic was a friend to clones, he’d heard plenty of stories of her helping brothers adopt pets under the table, and she’d even helped  Denal to adopt Torrent, the sweet kitten in the barracks next door to theirs, but it was reassuring to have her confirm it in person. “That’s great to hear, we’ll make sure he’s taken care of, ma’am.”

Apparently, that was as much talk as  Hardcase could stomach, eager to get back with the newest member of their squad as he already began walking towards the door, “thanks again, Doc!” he shouted back, his signature grin firmly back in its rightful place. She offered him a brief wave and then he was gone, already out into the bustling streets of  Coruscant . Jesse tried to offer an apologetic smile on behalf of their rather excited brother, but the vet simply waved him off with a genuine smile of her own. “I’ll see you boys later,” she hummed, offering  Kix and Jesse a nod in farewell. 

The two brothers were quick to go after  Hardcase , managing to weave their way through the lunchtime crowds with little difficulty. They caught up with him soon enough, and from there it was only a short walk back to base. With it being noon, most of their brothers were already in the mess, so there wasn’t anyone to stop them or to question the strange crate one of them was carrying through the barracks and soon enough they reached their destination. 

It had been almost two weeks since the Citadel and Fives was not doing well. He had survived and managed to escape, yet it felt as though his very heart and soul had been abandoned on the platform alongside his missing batcher. 

He hadn’t cried. There’d been no time for him to actually let down his guard enough to process what had happened until they had been safely whisked from the planet’s surface, and then he’d been swarmed by brothers trying to offer their support. They wanted to do right by him, to keep him surrounded by caring people at all times, yet he’d never found himself feeling lonelier. In truth he wasn’t sure he even wanted to stop feeling lonely.

The numbness was better than the agony that twisted through his chest every time he so much as glanced at Echo’s empty bunk. It was better than having his emotions raw and spilling over the threshold  where the Captain and the rest of his  vode could see it. It was better than accepting that his brother was no longer by his side where he’d promised to always be. 

He was tempted to ignore the knocking someone was doing on the outside of the barracks. All of the other brothers were either training or in the mess hall, so whoever was knocking was obviously looking for him. Knowing that they’d likely just try and track him down later, Fives shouted for whoever was seeking access to enter, not bothering to glance up from the  datapad he was looking over – and by looking over he meant staring mindlessly at the display while he allowed his thoughts to run rampant – he was, however, snapped from his trance when he heard something heavy being placed on the floor. 

Rolling over onto his side, Fives regarded the three brothers who’d entered the barracks, taking note of their rather sheepish expressions.  Hardcase was clearly anxious or excited about something, Jesse kept glancing between the aforementioned brother and Fives, and  Kix looked as though he was half a second away from snapping at the other two troopers, or perhaps slapping them both upside the head. 

“Well, are you going to tell him or not?”  Kix crossed his arms over his chest, assuming his ‘irritated medic’ stance, which was usually enough to send most men running for the hills, “you geniuses came up with it, I’m not going to be dragged into it with you.” 

Fives simply rose a questioning eyebrow while Jesse spluttered out an indignant sound, “Excuse me? This was  Hardcase’s idea, I just encouraged him.” 

Kix looked just about ready to argue the statement, but Fives was able to stop him from going any further by raising a hand. He’d already pulled himself up into a sitting position, allowing his legs to dangle freely from the edge of his bed as he frowned up at the three brothers gathered before him, “what do you guys need to tell me?”  Hardcase was grinning and Fives was briefly worried by what sort of mania his brother had in store. 

“Well, I saw something the other day and we-”  Kix shot  Hardcase a foul look, “ _ I _ , thought you’d like to have it.” he finished, fingers itching to get on with it. When Fives didn’t say anything further, he continued, “but you need to, uh, close your eyes.”

Fives’ frown only deepened, he really wasn’t in the mood for any surprises – he was tired and just wanted to be left to himself – but he knew better than to try and argue with a brother as stubborn as  Hardcase once he’d set his mind on something, and closed his eyes, albeit with a slightly defeated sigh. He heard the sound of the crate being opened, followed by something scrabbling against the smooth floor for purchase. 

“Okay, okay, hold out your hands,” he could hear the energy in the other clone’s voice, followed slightly by a poorly concealed chuckle, probably from Jesse. 

He held out his hands as instructed, suddenly wishing he’d been wearing his gloves, just in case. But to his surprise, what his hands met was warm and soft, and Fives suddenly jerked, eyes snapping open when he felt the thing  _ move _ .  “What the  kriff –” looking up at him, whole body  squirming with uncontained energy and excitement , was  a small  Ring Dog, and no t just any dog, but a puppy.  It was wriggling about, its rear end swaying from side to side from where Fives  held it, dangling in mid-air as its tail wagged at about a mile a minute. 

“ Hardcase , where  the  _ hell _ did you find a puppy?” the ARC trooper  near enough choked out, still reeling at the thought that his brothers had somehow  not only managed to find a dog, but somehow also sneak it into the barracks.  At his words the puppy made a soft bark, only growing more excited when Fives looked away from  the other trooper and  back at it again . 

Hardcase himself looked to be absolutely beaming  yet again, pleased that Fives had asked, “well, you see, I was out with Jesse and  Kix the other day at Seventy Nine’s and we overheard one of the  Guards talking about his pet  Tooka , and  that reminded me of  Denal and how he has Torrent, and how happy she makes him, and then  Kix mentioned something about pets  helping to lower blood pressure, and then—” 

“We adopted him from the vet clinic a little ways down from the  Guard base.” Jesse suddenly said, cutting off whatever lengthy rambling  Hardcase was about to spiral into, much to the aforementioned clone’s disappointment  if his expression was any indicator .  Fortunately, Jesse didn’t seem to be  too worried by the glare being pointedly levelled at him. 

“Yeah!”  Hardcase quickly continued, “ we thought that maybe  ya could do with some company .”  The longer Fives actually stared at  Hardcase , the more he could see that, while  excited, the trooper was rather nervous,  his fingers twitching restlessly at his sides.  Clearly, he was worried about what Fives would think of their ‘gift’, but before he could  speak up Jesse once again chimed in. 

“But hey, we’ve already  disturbed you enough, we’ll just leave you to it.”  Neither  Kix nor  Hardcase were able to argue , for Jesse grabbed both of their arms and began hastily dragging them  out of the room. 

Fives blanched for a moment, looking between his retreating brothers and the puppy still  swaying in his hold , “wait, ‘Case, Jesse, what am I supposed to do with this  thi — ” he was cut off by the door to his  quarters being abruptly closed as the other three clones made their escape.  Still slightly stunned, it took him a moment to finally come back to his senses, gently placing the puppy down on the  floor.  Immediately it began to sniff at his feet and legs, occasi onally making a pleased huffing noise, before looking back up at the ARC trooper with its big brown eyes. 

The puppy just about reached Fives’ knees when stood ,  covered in a thin, oak-coloured fur , with several rings of chocolate brown  wrapping  around its legs and tail . A small blue collar hung around its neck, and Fives was quick to reach out and inspect it,  turning it around in his hands to try and find if it had a name on its tag. 

Finding no tag he was forced to assume that the dog had yet to be given a name.  He recalled that Jesse and  Hardcase had called it a ‘he’, and with a quick glance underneath  the happy pup, he could confirm that it was indeed a male.  He  still had no idea if he’d be keeping the animal –  clones w ere n’t exactly the sort of pe ople who could keep pets – but he couldn’t just leave the poor thing nameless , regardless of whether he would be keeping it or not .  He would have to speak to Echo, he had always been better at picking names than—

His face fell as a quiet voice inside reminded him that no, he wouldn’t be  receiving any help from Echo. Not now, and not ever again. 

With a sigh Fives dropped back onto his bunk, staring up at the bunk above as his thoughts quickly  began to sink their talons into his  mind,  dragging him down into the deep abyss. He had no one to help him, Echo wasn’t there to  grab his hand and pull him from drowning in the  pitch-black waters of his inner thoughts.  But someone else was. 

Fives was jerked from his  trance-like state by a cold nose nudging at his hand , followed briefly by several slobbery licks to his fingers when he still didn’t respond.  He looked down to the puppy,  meeting its eyes and watching as its expression exploded into joy the moment he did so , tail already back to wagging at its  ridiculous speed. 

“What can I do for you, dog?”  he asked quietly, moving to run his fingers over the puppy’s head.  The dog simply offered him a bark, attempting to lick his hand the moment he stopped  his  pettin g motions. “Why don’t you come up here?” Fives asked,  patting at the top of the mattress to try and encourage it to join him.  The moment he stopped the Ring Dog did just as he was asked, springing from the floor and landing on the bunk beside the clone , already shoving his head under Fives’ arms and trying to reach the ARC’s  face to give him a good licking. 

Fives wasn’t able to stop the  laugh that suddenly escaped him, trying in vain to try and swat away the determined pup and save his face from slobber. A single lick to his chin was the closest the dog got, but he seemed to be satisfied with his efforts,  plopping down on Fives’ chest and huffing in his face. “Stars, your breath stinks , dog,” he groaned,  scrunching up his nose and trying to turn away. The dog merely wagged his tail again. 

“You think that’s funny?” The dog simply wagged his tail faster . He had only a moment to brace himself before the puppy launched at him again , this time trying to lick at Fives’ ears.  And for a long, blissful moment , the mourning ARC trooper is rendered a laughing, happy child. 

The next morning, Rex is  more than relieved to see Fives wandering around the base .  He’s still not interacting with his brothers as much as usual,  still a little withdrawn from his surrounds, but he’s not completely closed himself off , and for that, the Captain is willing to overlook the small puppy following around at Fives’  heels. If continuing to pretend he  is completely oblivious to the animals ‘stealthily’ being acquired by members of the 501 st mean s that h is men have the chance to actually heal and have some sort of  joy in their depressing lives , then it’s something he would  happily  do a thousand times over.

**Author's Note:**

> Thorn has for sure used the 'I can't move, the cat has chosen me' excuse to get out of things before, Fox is just getting back at him for it and for bugging him earlier.


End file.
